Bernhard Langer picked up his ninth top at the Masters with his first sub-70 round of the week to once again demonstrate the strength of the over 50s.
The highlight for the two-time Masters Champion, who will be appearing in the Senior Open at Royal Porthcawl later in the summer, was his eagle on the second after he hit a three wood to four feet and converted the putt. “Nice to see the ball that close,” he said afterwards.
As for the performance of the over 50 brigade, with six of them making the cut this year – Sandy Lyle, Larry Mize, Fred Couples, Vijay Singh and Miguel Angel Jiménez as well as Langer – he said it was a “statement”.
“There's a lot of good over 50 players,” he added. “We can compete at the highest level and even on a very, very long golf course like this one.
“I think the guys stay in better shape and they know that there's a great Tour with the Champions Tour waiting for them. In their late 40s they don't kind of quit and say I'm kind of done. They're actually maybe working harder at it knowing they're going to have five or ten years, maybe more, on the Champions Tour. So they focus on that and they pace themselves.”
